The clock uses very little power so a weak supply might still be able to provide stable voltage to it.
All the other functions require enough power to drag down a supply that is on its last legs and I think that is where the problem lays.

If the display brightness seems normal, then either a different section is being used for the missing functions or a weak capacitor in the power supply can no longer filter the DC voltage well enough to provide stable voltage to motors, the main board, etc.

To determine what is at fault will require some technical skills and a couple of instruments normally not found at home.

About the only thing you might try on your own is to open the case, look for a customarily separate board that appears related to the AC input cord which should be unplugged at this time.
You will see cylindrical parts ranging in diameter from 1/4" to about 1 1/4" and various heights.
The tops are normally visible and the cases are of aluminum. Look for any that seem to have bulging tops or a crusty deposit around their base.
Those things are visible indicators of failure.

If you find such parts and have an appropriate soldering iron (not a higher power 'gun') you might remove these and buy replacements.
That could be a problem since most electronics supply places won't even talk to you.
If you want to try on line, look at www.mouser.com , one of the few who will sell single quantities of parts.
The values will look something like this:

100uF/16V

These parts are polarized so if you don't see a '+' or '-' on the board, be sure to mark it before removing so any new part does not fail immediately after replacing.

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Hey do the tapes play at all? sometimes some tapes recorded
on other machines won't play on others. maybe you need to adjust the tracking on the VCR you are playing it on. If the tape
was recorded on a VCR that is misaligned it might not play back
on another VCR. Also the tape may have been recorded on a
super VHS VCR in et (extended definition) mode if so they won't play on just any VCR. If the picture looks scrambled like a
premium channel on analog cable then it's probably recorded in et.
and if its recorded on super VHS tape it may eject out of your VCR.
They don't make these S-VHS vcrs anymore but people still
have them around. There is also Digital VHS they're not
compatible with VHS either. A VHS recorded in et mode will
play on some more expensive vcrs it should say so on the box
or instructions.

Soution #1 get nice but cheep VHS " rewind " macine.
2nd. Some machines have a special rubber wheel in the center,between the left [ take up or rewind ] & right [ play\record ] assemble. VERY diffiult to repair if u don't know what u are doing.
3rd. Find & REplace EVERY rubber band that u find in the machine.

VCR is set with blank tape..Bring up vcr control on TV with television set on Chanel #3, go to menu
Follows procedure for progamming date,time start,time finish,chanel and.speed and single recording.finally click on menu and turn vcr off. Vcr lights indicate set for taping,,.Does no start to tape at requested time and lights indication taping ready stays on ??????

Sounds like the idler assembly isnt working. Without this assembly, the system cannot get the tape to actually move, and most systems will shut down if the tape isnt moving to prevent damage to the tape. In truth, this can be a complicatred repair, requiring the machine to be taken apart quite a bit. I would suggest taking this kind of a problem to a repair shop, but with the cost of simple VCR's coming down constantly, and the upcoming switch to DTV making the machines tuner obsolete, it would probably be more economical to just replace the machine.